"I was right, you did set me up," Bill growled, his eyes narrowing into slits as he glared at Eric.
Eric leaned back against the wall, a smirk creeping across his lips. "No…you are still wrong in that regard," he replied with a playful arrogance.
Sookie stepped forward, her stance unyielding and her expression fierce. "Indeed, that would be me; after all, it was my plan." Her words dripped with confidence, starkly contrasting the disbelief etched on Bill's face.
"You expect me to believe a fucking human girl set me up? I am not that stupid," Bill sneered, his glare still firmly fixed on Eric. He tried to project authority, but the growing uncertainty in his voice betrayed him. "Listen, sweetheart, they are using you; clearly, you are too stupid to see..." His words faltered, dying in his throat as he caught sight of the glow emanating from Sookie's hands. No, she was not entirely human, Bill realized.
"Care to repeat that?" Sookie's voice had shifted, taking on a deadly edge that sent a shiver down Bill's spine. He scrambled to find a way out, but it was too late. "You are clearly struggling to understand what is happening, but don't worry, soon it will all become clear." The glow intensified, becoming a blinding white energy sphere before being extinguished. Relief washed over Bill, but it was short-lived.
"Idiot," Jason muttered from the sidelines, and before Bill could ponder the comment, Sookie flicked her finger. His eyes widened in horror as he looked down to discover a small, gaping hole in his stomach, the realization dawning upon him just as the searing pain erupted within him. The scream that tore from his lips was deafening, a raw sound of agony. He felt as if he was slowly burning from the inside out, the torment exacerbated by the fact that he hadn't fed in days.
Eric approached him with an unsettling, calm demeanor. With a swift motion, he snapped Bill's neck, silencing him. Bill remained conscious, a prisoner in his own body, aware of the torment but unable to articulate it. The pain roiled through him, and in that moment, he understood the true depths of his predicament; at least, he thought he did.
Just then, Thalia emerged from the shadows, having descended to the basement after the bar had cleared out. With a grunt, Eric released Bill from his confines and tossed him over his shoulder with little regard for the vampire's dignity. He vamped out of the basement through the back door, unceremoniously dumping Bill into the back of Pam's van.
Pam settled into the driver's seat with an exaggerated groan. "This is the third time this month I've had to get the van detailed," she complained, shooting Eric a glare.
"He's not bleeding all over it," Eric countered, his tone nonchalant as if that made any difference to Pam.
"I can smell him, and that is all that matters," Pam retorted, her voice laced with frustration as she squealed out of the employee parking space. She quickly caught up to Sookie, who was now back behind the wheel of her Lexus. Pam knew Sookie would be relieved to return to her usual day job, handling all the paperwork for Fangtasia. It saved Eric and Pam hours dealing with liquor suppliers, payroll, taxes, and all the tedious paperwork that came with running a bar. Sookie also assisted Sam Merlotte with his taxes and other businesses around Bon Temps. It was easy to glamour most of the locals to believe she worked as a waitress for Sam. The glamour was more for Bill's benefit than anything else; the townsfolk would have happily played along, but when it came to vampires, some risks were too significant to take.
Pulling up to the warehouse, they drove to the back, ensuring their privacy in the secluded area. Once again, Eric hoisted Bill over his shoulder, striding toward the warehouse with Pam, Sookie, Jason, and Thalia trailing behind.
"Billy boy, welcome to your new home," Eric said mockingly to Bill, who remained unresponsive.
"Stackhouse, you've outdone yourself," Pam remarked, her eyes scanning the space with an approving nod.
"Thank you, it was truly a pleasure," Jason replied, attempting to mimic Pam's English accent. However, it came out as a poor imitation.
"You sound like a drunk Australian," Pam deadpanned, rolling her eyes as she surveyed the surroundings.
Eric moved through the warehouse, inspecting Jason's handiwork while Pam and Jason engaged in their usual playful banter. Thalia was busy demonstrating hand-to-hand combat techniques to Sookie when Bill groaned, the sound alerting the room to his waking state.
"Ahh, William, you are back with us," Pam drawled, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You have been missed," she added with a straight face.
"What is this about?" Bill croaked, the pain lancing through him like never before. His eyes widened in shock as he felt a bottle of True Blood pressed to his lips, and he gulped it down greedily, finishing three bottles in quick succession.
"We need you alert," Eric said, gesturing as Jason pushed a large-screen TV in front of him. This should answer all your questions." With a swift motion, Eric hit the play button.
Bill watched, bewildered, as three children ran around on the screen. Confusion clouded his mind as he struggled to grasp the scene's significance. He remained silent, not wanting to provoke the burning sensation that had recently coursed through him.
"Sookie is cheating," one of the children shouted, and recognition hit him. It was Jason's voice.
"No, I'm not," Sookie defended herself, her tone playful.
"Yes, you are," another girl said, her voice echoing with childhood innocence.
"Sookie, are you cheating?" Bill's heart raced as he saw Eric's face appear on the screen, a look of amusement on his features.
"I didn't mean to; my shields sort of dropped all by themselves," Sookie replied, and Bill could almost hear Pam's distinct chuckle.
"I'm sure it did… all by itself," Pam added, her sarcasm evident. A car horn honked, and the children squealed, running into the house, their laughter filling the air.
"I'm beginning to think we are just the dead things that keep them company until she turns up," Pam lamented, her tone laced with mock seriousness.
"They don't see her as much as they do us, so they are bound to abandon us when she shows up," Eric replied, the camera following the children as they dashed inside.
If Bill had been surprised by the sight of Eric and Pam, he would have been utterly floored by what came next. Sophie-Anne appeared on screen, her demeanor radiant as she knelt beside the children.
"I hear it's someone's birthday," she teased, her voice warm and inviting.
"Yes, it's Hadley's!" Jason shouted excitedly.
Bill's mind raced as he recalled the dirty, drugged-up Hadley Delahoussaye he had found outside Sophie-Anne's court nine years ago. He had taken her there, hoping to gain favor with the queen, but he did not realize the depth of their connection. Hadley had been terrified, but the moment she laid eyes on Sophie-Anne, relief washed over her, and joy filled her expression. Bill had been so wrapped up in his own ambitions that he had failed to see the familial bond between them.
Sophie-Anne's reaction to Hadley had been peculiar, almost possessive, and now, in hindsight, it made sense. The queen had shushed Hadley as she tried to speak; she had wanted to keep their connection a secret, and Bill had been oblivious, too focused on his own desires to grasp the truth of the situation.
As the birthday party unfolded on the screen, Bill watched Sophie-Anne entertain the children for hours, her affection for them evident. The celebration continued until the children eventually fell asleep, and he wondered how many locals at Merlotte's had been glamoured to keep his suspicions at bay.
"I didn't think you were coming," Eric said to Sophie-Anne as he poured her bagged blood, the camaraderie between them palpable.
"Compton has been delayed," she replied, a hint of annoyance in her tone as she glanced at Eric.
"Tell me something," Eric continued, his voice dropping, "How will you explain this to the children, especially Sookie, when she's old enough to understand? If circumstances had been different, you would send Compton down here years from now to get Sookie to court." Sophie-Anne shivered at the thought.
"I'm no longer taking people from their homes," she stated firmly. "I ask him to investigate their situation; if it's less than ideal, he steps in. I am giving them a choice to stay with me or return to their previous lives. For most, it's so bad they choose to stay, even knowing what we are. I would never take someone whose family life is ideal or better. You are right; I wouldn't know how to explain it to Sookie if I did." Sophie-Anne's conviction resonated with Bill, and he silently acknowledged the shift in her approach.
Bill's realization hit him like a freight train. He had been so consumed by his own schemes that he had failed to see the bigger picture, the kindness and complexity of Sophie-Anne's actions. He couldn't believe he had thought fifty years of servitude was enough to absolve him of the burden he had placed upon the queen.
"I can't believe you have fifty more years of payments for that wimp you call a vampire," Eric spat a mix of anger and disbelief in his tone. "He should have met his true death fifty years ago instead of you wasting money on him."
Bill's heart sank. "I didn't know," he whispered, shame and regret flooding him.
"What didn't you know?" Jason growled, his fury palpable as he wiped tears from his face.
"I thought fifty years was enough. I didn't know she was still paying for my freedom," Bill admitted, the weight of the truth crashing down on him.
Jason laughed bitterly, his expression a mixture of disbelief and rage. "You'd be truly dead if it weren't for her, and yet because you thought you had served your time, it was okay to get her overthrown and ended in the process." His voice rose, and in a fit of rage, he grabbed a silver knife and plunged it into Bill's thigh. Bill gritted his teeth, the pain sharp and unrelenting.
"You took two people from us," Jason spat, his voice a low growl. "The cousin that Pam drained; she was the cousin you drained. Why kill Hadley?" Bill knew the answer would only intensify his suffering. He had drained Hadley in desperation, realizing too late that Victor would never let him keep her. He had intended to turn her, but her blood had surprised him, and before he knew it, she was gone.
"It doesn't matter; you will pay for their deaths," Jason declared coldly. "As far as everyone is concerned, you are dead. And if you think your maker will feel your pain and come for you, think again. This warehouse is warded. Your maker no longer felt you when you stepped past the ward. Death will not come, even as you wish, cry, and beg for it." Sookie added, her voice steady as she gazed at him with a mixture of sadness and determination.
"I didn't kill Sophie-Anne," he protested weakly, knowing that even if he hadn't struck the final blow, he had played his part in her downfall.
"Don't worry," Pam chimed in with a gleeful smile. "Your accomplices will be joining you soon. Victor will be joining you, followed by Thredgill and then Felipe. Rest up, Bill. Tomorrow night, you and I will have a long time to get to know each other." Pam informed him cheerfully, a hint of malice in her tone. "I believe Jason will be joining us. He has quite the way with knives." Her laughter echoed in the warehouse, chilling Bill to the core as they left him alone in the darkness.
The lights went out, plunging him into a suffocating blackness filled with his thoughts. Bill wrestled with the enormity of his past mistakes, the realization that he had unknowingly endangered those Eric cared about. What was Eric's real relationship with Sophie-Anne? And why had no one ever bothered to tell him the truth? The questions swirled in his mind like a tempest, leaving him utterly alone with the burning pain of regret.